In his first official trip to Washington, D.C., Mayor Eric Garcetti on Monday met with President Barack Obama as part of a lobbying trip for federal assistance on transportation projects and improvements to the Los Angeles River.

“He said he wanted to welcome me to Washington,” Garcetti said in a telephone interview.

He later sent out a tweet: “Great to visit with @BarackObama at the White House today.”

In a day filled with meetings, Garcetti met with senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett to discuss the L.A. River restoration project. He was joined on the trip by City Councilmen Bob Blumenfield, Gil Cedillo, Mike Bonin and Mitch O’Farrell.

Garcetti also sat down with officials from the Office of Management and Budget, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

“They were very familiar with what we are doing, and we wanted to let them know how important these projects are to us in Los Angeles,” he said.

One of the mayor’s main goals was to seek federal help at Los Angeles International Airport. “We are very interested in the LAX-Connect program, where passengers could come to an intermodal facility to check in and then get on a people mover to take them to the different terminals,” Garcetti said.

He noted the city was not asking the federal government to pick up the entire tab, as Measure R — which allocates a projected $40 billion to traffic relief and transportation upgrades throughout L.A. County over the next 30 years — would be paying at least half the cost of the system.

The same is true for the L.A. River, on which more than $200 million has been earmarked for improvements as Garcetti and city officials seek to have a $1 billion program adopted by the Army Corps of Engineers to make improvements along the entire 51-mile waterway.

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With the EPA’s McCarthy, he discussed the need for the city to increase water storage, particularly in the San Fernando Valley.

“They are very impressed that we are using cutting-edge technology,” Garcetti said.

Before heading back to the Southland tonight, the mayor and his cadre will be attending L.A. River Day, sponsored by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, which examines the four Army Corps of Engineers revitalization options for the river.

The council earlier this year officially backed Alternative 20, the most expensive and comprehensive of the plans.

O’Farrell, in a telephone interview, said the group also met with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and members of the Council on Environmental Quality. “It is important for them to understand that we as a city and a region ... are asking the federal government to meet us halfway over a 20-year period,” he said.

“We have demonstrated we know how to make things happen at the local level and now need federal support. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make an investment in a resource like the L.A. River. This opportunity will not be here in five years.”

Garcetti had planned a significant Washington trip shortly after he was sworn in as mayor but had to cut that trip short because of local fallout from the Trayvon Martin case.

Also on the trip is City Engineer Gary Moore, who is serving as interim port director, and Public Works Commissioner Barbara Romero.

Bonin, whose council district includes LAX, said the visit with the secretary of transportation was particularly beneficial. Bonin and Garcetti want to fast-track the ground transportation center, which they hope will allow Metro Green and Crenshaw Line trains to connect directly with the airport. Any plan will require support from the Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Transit Administration, both of which are supervised by Foxx.

Considerable planning work remains, but Bonin said he is optimistic LAX can begin building its ground transportation hub before Obama leaves offices in January 2017.

The Green Line already stops near LAX, but Bonin said it’s vital for Metro trains to actually enter airport property.

“We don’t want to have a reputation as the city that almost does the right thing in transportation,” Bonin said. “It’s not good enough to almost get to the airport. We have to connect.”